Archive for 'language'
Six Quintessentially Russian Concepts – Part II Posted by Maria on Jun 22, 2016
We are continuing from last week’s post on certain Russian expressions and underlying concepts that are specific to Russian reality. Нормально Нормальный as an adjective means “normal,” but it’s used in some unique ways. First, нормально is a common response to “Как дела?” (“How are you?”) Second, нормальный is used to express covert approval of…
Six Quintessentially Russian Concepts – Part I Posted by Maria on Jun 16, 2016
See Part II of this article here. Every so often, an article will pop up online talking about culture-specific or untranslatable words in other languages. In this post, I will not be claiming that the words I discuss are “untranslatable” — yet they are used in Russian in ways that may not be obvious from…
Biblical Phrases in Russian Posted by Maria on Jun 7, 2016
Many of the phrases we use in Russian — and in English — actually come from or are inspired by (the corresponding translation of) the Bible. I am not qualified to give a theological interpretation of such phrases. You can follow the links for each phrase to see the larger context in English or in…
Bread and Circuses: Russian Sayings of Latin Origin Posted by Maria on Jun 2, 2016
The influence of Latin on science, philosophy, medicine, and theology cannot be overstated. One part of its legacy consists of popular sayings we use to this day, albeit sometimes in translation. This is true for both English and Russian (and I imagine, many other languages), so in this post we will look at some phrases…
Birds’ Rights And Other Animal Idioms in Russian Posted by Maria on May 30, 2016
There are a few idioms referring to animals in Russian. These idioms are used in colloquial speech and expressive writing to get the idea across vividly. На птичьих правах Права is, of course, “rights” (singular право). Птичий comes from птица, bird, and means “bird’s.” На птичьих правах means “without a lawful status or claim to…
Ten Must-Know Introductory Phrases in Russian — Part II Posted by Maria on May 9, 2016
We are continuing from last week’s post about introductory phrases in Russian. These phrases help you bring ideas together in your writing and speaking. Make sure you read the first part for the first five phrases. 6. Кро́ме того́ Кроме того introduces additional information, akin to “besides.” Эта маши́на сли́шком дорога́я. Кроме того́, нам не́где ее…
Ten Must-Know Introductory Phrases in Russian — Part I Posted by Maria on May 5, 2016
Please see Part II here. A comment to a recent post asked me to cover some introductory phrases in Russian. These small words are ubiquitous, especially in argumentative writing like news articles, and they link the ideas in a text to help the reader follow the writer’s logic. In most cases, introductory words (вво́дные слова́)…